When It Comes To Social Security, A Policy of Preemption Is The Way To Go

Common sense dictates that the least expensive and most practical way to deal with a problem is dealing with it before it is a problem. Democrats oppose President Bush's planned reform of Social Security on the grounds that Social Security is fine, that it will continue being able to pay it's benefits through the mid-point of the century. This is dumbfounding really, for why would anyone want to wait until the system is in crisis before doing anything?

This is becoming a trend within the Democratic Party, not only on Social Security but the War on Terror as well. Just like they claimed that Saddam Hussein was not an imminent threat, they also argue that Social Security is just fine, that we shouldn't mess with it until there's an actual problem. This shortsightedness is very dangerous, and will prove very costly down the road. No Saddam Hussein wasn't a threat to us when we invaded, but down the road he would have been. And if we had waited until Saddam had developed into an imminent threat, we would have had to contend with an enemy that could level one of our own cities or have killed thousands of our own troops on the battlefield.

Similarly, if we wait until Social Security is on the verge of collapse we will have to take quick and overly expensive measures to save it. President Bush is absolutely right in trying to prevent this from ever happening, and anyone with any sense can see that Social Security is heading down a treacherous road. If we deal with these issues that threaten the program now, we will have prevented ourselves from having to deal with a serious problem in the future.

The current generation of seniors is in no peril to lose their benefits. But with the upcoming retirement of the Baby Boomers huge strains will be put on the system. If nothing is done now the system won't be there to provide the benefits our generation has earned. This is why we should be allowed to invest some of our payroll tax money, insuring that we will see the same returns that our parents and grandparents have.